Barracuda XT, Barracuda, Barracuda Green, DiamondMax and other desktop SATA and IDE drives

[Kraut74]

As the title states, I have a couple of ST2000DM01 drives and the firmware is at CC9C.  I went to the update page and see that there is a new version, CC9D, but as I try to update, it gives me the "can't update" message.  Yes, I did disconnect the drives and used the DOS version to update with BIOS settings at all the different drive settings.  None worked.  I noticed on a couple of other threads (different drive thread) that you can force the drive to update the firmware, but I do not know what the name of the file/command line is for the file.  Can anyone help with this and let me know what the command line should be?  Thanks.

[fzabkar]

My recommendation is not to force the update. I say this because the configuration file has too many variables to allow us to choose the correct firmware LOD file for your model.

Here is the configuration file:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/GRCC4CD9.TXT

Each line has the following format:

model number ; existing firmware package ; firmware image ; updated firmware package

As you can see, your model (ST2000DM001) can have several physical configurations, namely 4, 5, or 6 heads. A different LOD file applies to each configuration. Drives with 4 heads require GRCC4C4H.LOD, whereas those with 6 heads require GRCC4C6H.LOD. I'm not sure if the latter file also applies to drives with 5 heads.

Another observation (which doesn't apply in your case) is that CC46, CC47, and CC49 firmware is upgraded to CC4C, whereas CC48 upgrades to CC4D. This appears counterintuitive.

FWIW. the CC4x versions appear to have an "MC" feature set, whereas CC9x firmware is described as "MC disabled". The former is "DT" whereas the latter is "SBS". I have no idea what these terms mean, or whether they are important.

In your case you would require either GRCC9D4H.LOD or GRCC9D6H.LOD. Applying the wrong file would undoubtedly brick your drive. One way to determine the correct file would be to retrieve the drive's package version. This can be done via the drive's serial console using a vendor specific command.

Alternatively, the first three characters of the serial number may indicate the platter type and number of heads, assuming that the new models still follow the old numbering system. I suspect that a serial number beginning with "Z1E" would signify a 2-platter, 4-head drive. Older model numbers indicated the number of platters via the second last numeric character, but current model numbers no longer follow the same format.

Still another way to determine the platter density would be to run a HD Tune read benchmark. The maximum sustained data transfer rate would tell us whether your drive has 4 heads (= 1TB per platter), or 5 or 6. A 2-platter drive would be significantly faster than a 3-platter.

[Kraut74]

Thank you for all that, it really helps.   My drives are ST2000DM001-9YN164 with CC9C.  So far I believe I have narrowed it down to these and between those is GRCC9D4H.LOD or GRCC9D6H.LOD (as you already stated): 

ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753C.CCD9.AY04AL.CC9C.C???;GRCC9D4H.LOD;GR753C.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.C39A 
ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753C.CCD9.AY08AL.CC9C.C39?;GRCC9D4H.LOD;GR753C.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.C39A

ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753D.CCD9.AY04AL.CC9C.D???;GRCC9D6H.LOD;GR753D.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.D39A 
ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753D.CCD9.AY08AL.CC9C.D39?;GRCC9D6H.LOD;GR753D.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.D39A

ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753C.CCD9.AY04AL.CC9C.D???;GRCC9D6H.LOD;GR753D.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.D39A 
ST2000DM001-9YN164;GR753C.CCD9.AY08AL.CC9C.D39?;GRCC9D6H.LOD;GR753D.CCD9.AY0AAL.CC9D.D39A

[Kraut74]

Also,  I looked at the serial numbers, I have one with a 1 as the second digit and the rest a re 2's.  Guessing the 1 is a 4 head and the 2 is 6 heads?  The variances of the serials numbers are:

(second)(third) digits 

2F

24

1E - (only one of these)

Also, if the drive was 6 heads, what is the command? I am not sure what the sequencing would be.  Kinda like this: FDL487A -m Anak -f GRCC9D6H.LOD -i ST2000DM001 -s -x -b -v -a 20  (The highlighed in red I know is wrong, but what should it be?)  Am I close?

[fzabkar]

The first thing I would do would be to subject each drive to a HD Tune read benchmark. I would very much like to see the performance graphs. They will tell us a great deal about the platter density and number of heads. Otherwise, if I help you to brick your drive, I'm going to be sick for a week.

As for your serial numbers, here are numbers that I've collected for other drives in the Barracuda Gen 14 series.

ST500DM002-1BD142 --- Z2Axxxxx

ST3500413AS --- Z2Axxxxx

ST1000DM003 --- Z1Dxxxxx

ST2000DM001-9YN164 --- Z1Exxxxx

ST3000DM001 --- Z1Fxxxxx

AISI, the Z1 drives have data densities of 1TB per platter, while the Z2 drives have 500GB platters.

D, E, and F appear to designate 2, 4, and 6 heads.

"A" also designates 2 heads, but they are probably of a different type, or perhaps the preamp on the headstack is different. That's all just speculation on my part, though.

Your 2F drive appears to have 6 heads and 500GB platters (or 666GB = 2TB / 3).

Your 1E drive would have 4 heads and 1TB platters.

However, your "24" drive is an unknown quantity. Could it have 5 heads and three 800GB platters???

The last question may be answered by a HD Tune read benchmark.

As for the SeaFlash command line, I'll know better once I see your results.

[Kraut74]

I will test them with that, but they are in a USB enclosure attached to my server pool, so I might run into a transfer limitation of the USB interface.  The reading might not reflect true trasfer speeds.

[fzabkar]

I believe testing in a USB enclosure will be pointless, unless it is USB 3.0. Even then I'm not certain whether the tests will be conclusive. If at all possible, please try a test via SATA.

Anyway, for a 6-head 2TB drive (serial number Z2Fxxxxx) with CC9C firmware, I believe the following line should work, but I really don't want to be held responsible for any negative outcome:

FDL497A -m Grenada -f GRCC9D6H.LOD -i ST2000DM001 -s -x -b -v -a 20

BTW, I wasn't aware that you could apply a firmware update via USB. I assumed from your original post that you had attached your drive directly to a SATA port in real DOS mode.

[Kraut74]

No, I would not do a firmware update through a UBS enclosure.  As for the DOS tests, I shut down my server, pulled the disk and attached it to a SATA cable from one of my spare computers. The DOS test does not write info to the drive, only in the RAM.  The reason I am hesitant to do a data transfer test outside of the USB is because I don't want the computer to add any unnecessary info to the drive that might jeopardize the placement back into my server pool.  I have multiple drives and removing them to test each one from the pool takes FOREVER.  As for getting mad if the firmware goes awry, I would never do that.  I know the risks and things happen when you tinker.  

[Kraut74]

Just to do a follow up, I had the serial numbers checked and was told, as you stated, the numbers no longer indicate the drive info.  All the drives had 4 heads, so I would assume (if I decide to do it) the command would be?: 

FDL497A -m Grenada -f GRCC9D4H.LOD -i ST2000DM001 -s -x -b -v -a 20

[fzabkar]

Yes, that's the correct command line, AFAICT.

But this whole thread is starting to make me feel ill. :-(

If you are not prepared to subject your drive to a Windows based test, then you could use a DOS utility such as MBRTool to edit sector 0. That's what the data recovery professionals do. In fact they change the last two bytes (0x55 0xAA) to invalidate the MBR. After you do this, Windows will not touch your drive. Of course you will need to restore these bytes after testing is complete.

Alternatively, you could purchase a TTL RS232 interface (US$5) and interrogate the drive via its serial terminal interface. The drive will then report its actual number of heads, plus it full firmware package version. Let me know if you are prepared to do this.